The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-07-06
Funeral of Judge Poland.

The funeral of the late Hon. Luke p. Po-
land was held at st. Johnsbury Monday
afternoon. 1t was found necessary to hold
it at that time on account OF extreme
hot weather. The services were at the
residence of his son-in-law, A. f. Rankin,
and were private. Rev. DIR. G. NJ. Lamson,
pastor of the North Congregational church,
which Judge Poland attended for many
years, offciated, and paid high tribute to
the mind and character of the deceased.
Resident members of the bar acted as pail
bearers. The remains were Inferred in the
village cemetery by the side of his first wife
and eldest daughter. The following is an
abstract of Dr. Lamson's remarks:
We meet to-day not so much for a flu
neral as for a coronation. We bring tributes
of genuine honor to the memory of a soul
that was great and beautiful and strong.
Our gratitude crowns his life. For many
years he has shared the spirit and duties of
this community, and by his interest in us
has increased our fair fame. In our hearts
his life rests full of usefulness and honor.
He sought to make our foundations broad
and deep, and was the guide and instructor
of a large and thoughtful public life. With
out seeking influence he gained it by de-
serving it. This word best describes him to
our thought-he was man of influence. He
was so full of positive life that he could not
avoid imparting himself to the men who
shared his society or the interests that
touched his thought. His presence, calm
and benign, was constant rebuke to the
unclean and erratic and a constant invita-
ton to pure, broad views of life 1t was an
education to our youth to see him and learn
the worth of manners, thought and temper
ance. His mind always lived adjacent to
great facts and in loving familiarity with
great questions. He poured into them a
distinct personal power. AS Judge or sena-
tor he so dealt with laws and national poll
cies as to make them more clear and just.
He watched and waited the severe emer-
gencies of public life with discreet wisdom
and charity and, as time has declared, was
for the public good master of the situation
He was always hospitabe to large and diff
cult problems. At times he seemed to wei
come opposition and rose, as great birds rise,
borne by the power of the current that sweeps
against them. He had prophetic conf
dence in the victory of broad truth-of the
national as contrasted with the local This
time and reflection proved to be his friend.
He could stand alone, but such was the Just
ness of his convictions he did not long re-
main alone. His life teaches this and every
generation the supreme worth of serving
truth steadily and serving it whole.
I" But to-day our thought of the man,
| loving the nation more than the party, and
! truth more than either, is lost in another
| thought, closer and more tender. We think
of the man. not of the officer citizen. He
was to many of us friend. We remember
| his humor that gave light but never burned;
his unaffected capacity of meeting all human
worth at its proper level; his clear convic-
tions; the Scriptural simplicity of his life.
One of you say He was my guide and
! helper Says another, He was my bene-
factor in my early professional struggle 1t
was to him religion not to utter fine sem
! fences to men but to give hand to in
dividuals, hand whose grip had such
meaning that it was never forgotten. He
| did not advertise his sympathies but they
We're warm and real, and those who felt
them think of them today as sacred things
! in their memory. He lived complete life,
preserving to the end the treasures gained
by the struggle of his youth, the intellectual
seriousness of his manhood. They were all
active in the ripeness and beauty of his age.
| Thus he had capacities in him to meet
every period of life at its proper level; he
had a child-like delight and simplicity with
| children; he could meet the work OF men
with firm and resolute grasp. All these
were joined in an old age serene in its
memories, gracious in its sympathies, fear
ing no evil So he stepped forth, complete
| in every human equipment, into the knowl-
edge of the great secret and the care of God.
"To you who knew him best and loved
| him with an affection too sacred for words
will come knowledge, clearer as the days
60 on, that in him God has given you great
blessing. How rich your lives must be in
pure and nourishing memories. He was to
you, children, an example of happy sim
plcty and a calm and beautiful reverence
for what is high and pure. These are now
your lessons bestowed by love that can
never be forgotten. You who came so near
the secret and society of his soul think not
of what you have lost but of what you can
never lose. He lives in you and what is
best in your future will be the bloom and
fruit from seed he planted in your heart.
You must be brave and useful and be filled
with solemn joy with such life as his
beating in your soul. The Lord bless you
and keep you. The Lord make his face to
shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and give you peace